Good Morning

Every morning, I leave Sophie in the big bed with her Daddy so I may get a couple of hours of writing done, and every morning, she bullies her Daddy over to the very edge of the bed. Who knew someone so little had such power?

For Donnie

Which is the best costume for the day?

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C

Voting begins...now!

N.B. Accessory provided by Donald Sanders, Inc.

Roll Over Beethoven

Upon returning from the mountains, Sophie promptly peed on herself and rolled over for the first time, while her Daddy was changing her diaper. I just happened to be messing with the camera at the time and got this action shot.

Oh how she's gonna hate this blog when she's older!

Rocky Mountain Weekend

Sophie and I left the high plains this week-end and headed West towards the peaks and valleys of the Rocky Mountains. We stayed at my friend's cabin, tucked away on a mountainside near Nederland, Colorado, where we birdwatched on the deck, ate Colorado peaches, and sojourned to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

I should say, after all the complaining about Sophie's behavior during month two, that she has transformed into a champion of babies: smiling, cooing, kicking, and sleeping through the night wherever we lay her down. She was a dream on the trip, allowing her mommy to have a good time with her friends!

As we crossed the tree-line and hit the tundra, Sophie didn't seem to mind the extreme change in elevation too much. Her mommy, however, got cold feet and didn't carry her all the way to the top but remained at a mere 11,800 feet instead.



With my good friend, Casey Rackaway, who navigated the mountain terrain like a champion driver and who has become Sophie's favorite Auntie in Hays.

And what week-end retreat would be complete without loads of good food and stellar company? We ate, told life stories, ate, cried, took walks, and ate some more. Pictured here are Janet Holden, our hostess extraordinaire, Katie Morris-Cline who took all of the photographs featured above, and Casey.

In short, although the high plains possess their own stark beauty in the yawning skies and bright sunflower fields, it's very nice to know that THIS is just around the corner.

Okay, down a rather long corridor called I-70.

May in North Carolina

We spent the last two weeks of May in North Carolina with Carl's family. Sophie cried her way through those weeks as well. The first evening I left her with her Dad to have dinner out with some friends, I made the mistake of calling in and learned that Carl, unable to take it anymore, had put the baby in her crib to cry it out.

The girls gave me some good advice that night: never call in.

Sophie with her Great-grandmother and namesake.

With her Grandmother Sallie who can calm her almost better than anyone.

With her cousin Brenna who during this photo session really wanted to experience what her cousin's eyeballs felt like.

Friends in High Places

My good friend Dan Kois wrote a very kind and affectionate piece about my playwriting for Oxford American Magazine. You can check it out here: http://www.dankois.com/images/oa.jpg

I have a very vivid early memory of Dan. We were in college together, sitting in my first playwriting class. I was anxiously holding my first attempt at playwriting in my hand--an overly obvious scene between an old Democrat lady and a young Republican salesman, I believe--when Dan yanked the scene out of my hand, proceeded to read it without my permission, then announced to the professor that my scene was "really good actually", and we should read it aloud in class. He's been endlessly encouraging and shamelessly promoting my work every since.

Thanks, Dan.

Athens in June

We spent the month of June in Athens, GA, with my family. It was not a good month for Sophie, who apparently deciding the humidity did not agree with her delicate constitution cried without cease for the first three weeks, prompting family members to observe that she was the worst baby any of them had ever seen. We tried to give her back, but no one would take her.

We did, however, manage to get a few good shots of the Sophster with visiting friends. Here she is with Carl and his best friend Wes, also a student of philosophy and avid eating competition enthusiast.


Sophie and me with my best friend, Erin Hatton, who came all the way from Buffalo, NY, for a visit. Incidentally, it's Erin's birthday today. Happy Birthday Ernie!


I just like this picture. That's my nephew, James, astradle my brother, Jimmy.


Sophie and her cousin Lulu, practicing their synchronized swimming, after getting baptized.


Sweet Anna Catherine poured her sister Lulu into a mixing bowl. I'm not sure why.